


Soulmate

by GlowwormiK



Series: Pre-rift Zarkon&Honerva [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Gen, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-23 07:37:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11985231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlowwormiK/pseuds/GlowwormiK
Summary: This is the day Zarkon realises Honerva isn't just another pretty lady.





	Soulmate

Trouble never comes alone, an old galran proverb says. Zarkon never could relate more. First, the comet barely misses his capital and disrupts a military training in action, not mentioning the damage it does to farms around it's crater. Then Alfor extracts the comet and announces that it has opened a gateway to other worlds. Near his castle, yes. Yes, a path to quiznak knows where. No, Zarkon, what threat? It is an amazing opportunity!  
  
And then his so-called friend leaves this... this woman on Daibazaal.  
  
She is magnificent. Every inch of her is perfection. She is unbelievably smart and incredibly uncomplicated at the same time. She operates her weird machinery with grace and writes multi-storey formulas so quickly that he can hardly comprehend what she is talking about. She has thousands of theories and they all make sense. She tells jokes and every single of them is hilarious. She is fearless and skilled. She has to go.  
  
Warrior emperor Zarkon has cultivated his image for years. He is very careful at what he says and does. This way, no one can ever know his one tragic fault, his darkest secret he keeps locked at the bottom of his heart. Zarkon tends to develop crushes on least suitable people. Every time it happens, his love is unrequited. They are taken, uninterested or plan on leaving for another planet. He suspects that at least half of their reasons were just made up to make him stop pursuing them. Now, as if to crown the shameful history of defeats, this woman just had to come to Daibazaal.  
  
She needs to be sent away before he will do something stupid. Now is not the time to go through this story again. He knows Alfor well, and as much as he likes the man, he couldn't stand more than a couple of days on one planet with him. It is this polite altean toothlessness, this wish to never hurt anyone more than absolutely necessary that drives him mad. And this woman must share the same traits.  
  
Right next morning, Zarkon walks towards her laboratories, determined to announce her that her work here is finished, when he hears strange sounds from behind the door. Is it... yelling?  
  
„What did I tell you yesterday, you idiot? The particle analysis! Particle! Have you been listening with your feet instead of ears? Now we missed a unique surge of energy from the rift!“  
  
Some incoherent mumbling is the answer. Then Honerva's voice comes again.  
  
„No, the particle emitter is analogous! If you don't know that, then you are fired! I don't need incompetent colleagues in my research facilities!“  
  
No, Zarkon understands, she is nothing like Alfor. Maybe she can stay for several quintants more.  
  
He comes to visit every day, his feet seem to carry him towards the rift without his consent. She is not just smart and beautiful, he starts understanding. There is this steel determination about her, hidden behind her sweet smile, that makes his knees go soft. She rules her laboratory like a true empress, she scared every worker into flawless submission, even the vicious accounting ladies. Zarkon can't help but applaud her internally every day when he sees how efficiently her research is organised.  
  
Now there is just one more question. Where will her research lead?  
  
„Honerva, have you ever considered that quintessence could be used for defence purposes? Not starting a war is one thing, but being prepared still wouldn't hurt, don't you think?“  
  
He has thought about this conversation for a long time, but with Honerva, things just don't go as expected.  
  
„Finally!“ she exclaims enthusiastically. „Finally there is someone who thinks clearly!“  
  
All Zarkon can do is utter a small „yeah?“, but she doesn't need any more of his validation.  
  
„I have been telling this to King Alfor all the time, but did he ever listen? No! Our whole sector is practically defenceless, let alone able to lead successful armed colonisation outside of our system. We mastered the interplanetary travel, and yet we still fight with swords! I told our King that we need to concentrate our efforts on military industry, and what did he answer?“  
  
Honerva makes a theatrical pause.  
  
„What?“ Zarkon asks in anticipation.  
  
„Immoral! He said it is immoral! Can you imagine? He wouldn't invest the funds into the research that wouldn't benefit anyone and only bring destruction in this world. How ridiculous is that?“  
  
„Absolute nonsense!“ Zarkon answers. „Who knows what lurks outside of our known sector? And we are going to sit quietly and hope they will spare us?“  
  
„No way!“ Honerva slams her tiny tanned fist on her table. „Survival of the fittest! This is the universal rule of evolution, a necessary condition for any progress. And what do we do? We limit ourselves, we cut our own claws and pull out our fangs!“  
  
„We need to secure the future of our species and use force wherever necessary! And we need to promote discipline, all this disarray just keeps us back.“  
  
They look at each other. Her cheeks are pink with excitement. It seemed impossible just half an hour ago, but now she looks even more beautiful then before.  
  
„I am so glad I met one sensible ruler in this world!“ she says. „But if you understand what's the right thing to do, why don't you do it?“  
  
„Well, there are diplomatic limitations... Daibazaal has an alliance, it would look suspicious if we started aggressive colonisation.“  
  
She doesn't believe him a single instant.  
  
„Listen, don't you play your tricks on me. I know you enough to understand that if you could, you would've ruled the whole sector long ago. What's the real reason?“  
  
Zarkon can't help but sigh.  
  
„Our biggest problem is the size of our ships. For longer-distance travel, we need to store more fuel on-board, and for this we need to build bigger ships. However, bigger ships have more mass and become more fragile, so that they can not go as fast as we want them to. This severely limits our expansion throughout the galaxy. And our smaller jets are not powerful enough to constitute a serious threat.“  
  
She rubs her forehead.  
  
„So you need to store lightweight fuel and make your ships stronger against impact?“  
  
„Well, that would be the ideal solution,“ Zarkon agrees.  
  
„Let me show you something,“ Honerva exclaims suddenly.  
  
She leads him further towards the rift itself. Almost near the edge, she takes him towards a weird little machine. It is conical in shape and divided in two. Both parts endlessly rotate against each other, and small windows shine. It doesn't look like a weapon at all.  
  
„What is it?“  
  
„This is an engine. It is running for twenty quintants now without stopping.“  
  
„So what?“ Zarkon asks, feeling stupid. She looks triumphant.  
  
„It runs on a single tiniest drop of quintessence.“  
  
„Oh, so you mean...“  
  
„If my theories about quintessence are true, then there will be virtually no limit for the size of the ships. An amount of quintessence that fits in this cup will suffice to run a huge ship for ages. It is a fuel and a weapon alike. It will make your jets the deadliest vessels in the world. And I shall build you battle stations thousand times bigger than what you already have. Your army will conquer every planet to the furthest edges of the universe and return triumphant within vargas!“  
  
This moment, looking into her shining hazel eyes, Zarkon realises he didn't just have a crush on Honerva. This time, he happened to meet his one true soulmate.


End file.
